


Wonderwall

by NeoVenus22



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-08
Updated: 2010-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-06 00:17:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since getting his powers, Conner's life has been in upheaval, but this was something he wasn't prepared for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place prior to the White Thunder saga.

It was so weird. A couple of months ago, Conner barely knew these people. Ethan James, the school geek, and Kira Ford, the school freak. Cassidy was right, the three of them hanging out was improbable at best.

But these guys were his friends now. Not just his friends, but his best friends. They hung out all the time, even when they weren't pulling superhero duty. Sure, they had their alone time; Conner had soccer, Ethan had geek-duty (a.k.a. all video games, all the time), and Kira had her music. But it was really cool that they were all different. If Hayley and Dr. O. were ever incapacitated or whatever, Ethan could probably take over computer duty and keep things running. And Kira...well...okay, so Conner couldn't exactly think of her precise function on the team. But at the same time, he couldn't imagine the team without her. As a matter of fact, there were a lot of things he couldn't imagine without her. Like her snarky under-her-breath comments in class, or the way she always carried around a note pad to jot down song ideas and lyrics. Oh, and of course, her music...not exactly his style, but he had to admit, she was _really_ good. And pretty, too, there were definite upsides to being on this team...

"Hey, Conner, dude, your wrist is, like, flashing."

Conner glanced over at his practice goalie; a little short kid named Matthew who had to wear tons of padding to even stomach the force of Conner's soccer balls. They had just finished up their early morning practice, and were on their way into the school. Conner glanced down at his communicator, the red jewel of which was indeed flashing.

"What's with that?" Matthew asked, leaning in a little too close to peer at it.

Conner jerked his arm away gently. "Just an alarm," he said. "I'm late for something."

"Yeah, you're gonna be late for school, dude," Matthew said, shaking his head slightly. Conner patted the guy on the shoulder and jogged off as Matthew went inside. Conner took up post, half-hidden behind a bush, and answered his beckoning. "Conner here."

"Conner, yo, it's Ethan. We're at Dr. O.'s...it's kind of an emergency."

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Conner said. He stuck his foot in the loop of his gym bag lying on the ground, and kicked it up into his hands before heading towards the parking lot. He had his fingers crossed that Principal Randall wouldn't catch him...he'd already missed a few homerooms because of his unofficial practices going a little overboard, and he was this close to getting suspended. He hopped into his car and sped off towards Valencia Drive.

 

* * *

 

When he arrived in the secret sub-basement of Dr. Oliver's modest home, he saw Ethan, Dr. O., and Hayley --but no Yellow Ranger. "Where's Kira?" he asked, found himself suddenly on the verge of panic. "Is she okay? Mesogog didn't get her, did he?"

Ethan and Dr. O. exchanged a look. "Getting a little antsy about the little punk princess, are we, Conner?" Ethan said, barely containing his laughter as he smirked. What annoyed Conner to no end was that even Dr. O. was hiding a smile.

"No, dude, I'm just saying that I mean, she...well, I mean, she's not as strong a Ranger, obviously, and she could have been kidnapped again."

Ethan made a little 'oops!' face before grinning even more widely. "Not as _strong_ a Ranger?" Conner heard a very familiar voice demand, and his heart sunk as he turned around to see Kira glaring ferociously at him. "Why, because I'm a girl? I'll have you know, I could kick your butt back to the freaking Stone Age, any day of the week, McKnight, and don't you forget it." She jabbed his chest with her finger --and he managed not to wince-- before she joined the others. "I got the page, Dr. O., what's up?"

"We've got a possible egg," Dr. Oliver said.

"Possible?" Kira said. "As in, you're dragging us out of homeroom to look at something that could just be a pretty, painted rock?"

"Pretty much," Dr. Oliver answered. "But I write your passes, so let's get going."

"Right," the three teenagers said, while Hayley took her place at the console. They started for the Raptor Cycles, but Kira refused to even look at Conner.

"Conner, could you hold up a sec?" Hayley called.

"Sure thing," Conner said, heading back to their eye in the sky.

"Look," she said in a low voice, "it would be easier on everyone if you just admitted that you had a thing for Kira."

"_What_?" Conner erupted, then glanced over at his shoulder in the direction where his team had gone, and lowered his voice. "I do not have a 'thing' for Kira. Okay?"

"Whatever, big red," Hayley said, rolling her eyes. "But like her or not, you really shouldn't be ticking her off. She really could kick your butt."

"CONNER!" Dr. O. called.

"Man, are you coming?" Ethan added.

"I gotta go," Conner said, running off to join the others. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Hayley wanted me for something."

"Hey, I got a test on _Romeo and Juliet_ this morning, take your time," Ethan said.

"In that case, we're definitely hurrying," Dr. Oliver said.

"Aw, c'mon, Dr. O. Like you never let your studies fall to the wayside when you were pulling double duty," Ethan said.

"We're not here to discuss my past, we're here to get some eggs," Dr. O. said, in his usual we're-not-talking-about-this tone. "Okay?" His students nodded their consent. "Okay then. Ready!" he yelled, getting into position.

"Ready!"

"Dino Thunder, power up! HA!"

Morphed, they hopped onto the cycles and took off. Dr. O. took the lead, and they were at the site in about fifteen minutes. Ethan was manning one of the sensors, while Conner and Kira took the periphery in case of an unexpected Tyrannodrone attack. "Look, Kira--" Conner started.

"Whatever you have to say, I can guarantee I'm not interested."

"Fine, be like that," Conner said. He wasn't about to argue with such a hotheaded little--

"Kira, look out!" he yelled, having spotted a flash of movement over her shoulder. Instantly the Yellow Ranger ducked and whirled. Conner figured that if they were behind her, they were also behind him, and so he turned. He had predicted correctly, and landed a roundhouse kick in the gut of a Tyrannodrone. "You guys better hurry up with your Easter hunt, 'cause we've got company!"

"We're working on it!" Dr. O. yelled. "Hold them off!"

"Trying!" Kira grunted behind Conner.

Conner ducked to avoid a swinging drone, landed a back kick on one behind him, but as he righted himself, was body-slammed by a third and went down. "Whoa!" He struggled against his attacker, but now there were two. They were heavy, strong, and had an advantage. "Man down; man down!" he announced, wriggling.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you looking for this?" said a familiar voice, and Conner felt the drones on top of him go a little slack. He recognized this as the opportunity it was. "Tyranno Staff!" he said, and it appeared in his hand. He whipped it against his attackers, and they fell back from him. He jumped to his feet, and as he'd suspected, Elsa was standing there, smirking, the egg in hand.

Conner pointed his staff at Elsa, furious that he was risking detention and getting his butt kicked at the risk that the bondage queen would steal what they'd come here for. "Give it up, Elsa."

"Or what, you'll poke me with your little stick?" she said. "Not threatened at all, I'm afraid. Thanks for the present, Rangers! Ciao!" Then another hole opened, and sucked in Elsa and the drones.

"So all of that...for nothing, basically," Conner said, putting away his staff. "Fantastic. I get detention, _and_ the bad guys win."

"Not so much as you might think," Dr. Oliver said, and though they couldn't see his face, Conner could tell by his tone that he was smirking.

"What's up?" Kira asked.

"The egg was bogus," Ethan explained. "A fake."

"You psyched them out?" Conner said.

"Something to that effect. We didn't know if it was legit or not, we told you guys that."

"C'mon guys, we gotta get you to school," Dr. O. said.

"Don't you have to get to school, too?" Kira asked.

"Touché." As they headed back for the cycles, the Black Ranger put his hand on Conner's shoulder. "Five times."

"Five times?" Conner repeated, bemused.

"I've been kidnapped five times. It's not some girl thing," the science teacher said, leaving Conner to stare after him.

 

* * *

 

Conner slid into the seat next to Kira in science. Dr. O. was usually really lenient about seating arrangements, knowing that kids were usually going to sit in the same place every day anyway. "I got my butt kicked this morning," he said quietly. Kira looked up from her notebook, where she'd been frantically etching out a few lines of her handwriting.

"I noticed that. Your point is?"

"I'm sorry about saying that you weren't as strong a Ra--a you-know-what," he amended, glancing around. With his luck, Cassidy was probably filming their entire exchange, for an expose on intermixing high school stereotypes, and the disastrous consequences that inevitably ensued.

She stared at him. "You're apologizing to me?"

Wait...girls had this weird thing of making you think that you had to apologize, then getting really offended if you did. Was Kira just messing with him? "Yeah...should I..._not_ be..?"

"No, it's good," she said. "It's just...well, I didn't think that was the sort of thing you did. Ever."

"Look...I'm not used to this whole 'leading' thing. And I think I'm doing a pretty crappy job. So I was freaking out this morning when there was an emergency meeting and you weren't there...I thought I'd lost you," he blurted, and then when he realized what he'd said, added, "a teammate. And I freaked."

"So why the whole gender attack?" she asked.

"Trying to save face in front of Ethan," Conner said, which was absolutely the truth.

"Typical male posturing," Kira huffed, the added burst of breath fluttering her bangs. Conner realized with a sharp stab that he was staring at her, and hurriedly flipped open his notebook, panic rising in his throat as a blush rose in his cheeks. _Hayley can't be right...I can't have a thing for Kira._

"Okay, guys," Dr. Oliver began, laying his briefcase down on his desk, "I'm a little tired this morning--"

"Wonder why?" Kira hissed to Conner, and they shared a smirk.

"--and so I'm going to have you break off into groups of two and get a head start on tomorrow's lab while I sit here and grade some papers. Try to keep it to a dull roar, okay?"

Conner glanced at Kira. "Wanna...work together?" he asked, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah, sure. Where's Ethan?"

Conner looked over his shoulder and realized that Ethan was, in fact, not there. Raising his eyebrows at Kira, Conner got up and went up to the front desk. "Dr. O.? Where's Ethan?"

"Oh, I had to send him on a special extra-credit assignment."

"Anything Kira and I should know about?"

"No, this is for class," Dr. O. said.

Conner returned to his seat. "Ethan's got some extra credit assignment he's working on."

"Ethan? Extra credit? For _this_ class? He has the highest grade in the class."

Conner shrugged. "Dr. O. says we're not needed," he said.

They stared at each other for a moment, then Kira opened her notebook. "Oh well. Maybe Ethan's been lying to us this whole time, and it turns out he's not a whiz kid, he's like, a robot clone or something." She cracked a half smile, and Conner laughed, a laugh that tapered off when he saw Kira's sloppy notes.

"We don't really have to start doing the lab, do we?" Conner asked.

Kira cocked an eyebrow at him. "You _do_ want to pass this year, don't you?" she said.

"I always pass," he assured her. "I'm not stupid, Kira. School just bores me, is all. But I gotta keep my grades up if I wanna keep playing soccer."

"I never said you were stupid," Kira said, and embarrassed by his outburst, he looked away. He felt a hand on his arm, and glanced over to Kira, surprised. "C'mon, Conner, I never said you were stupid. I don't think that at all."

"I--" he began. "...Thanks." Her assurance meant a lot to him. In response, he cracked open his own notebook and started to read the directions for the lab. He was willing to make sacrifices.


	2. Chapter 2

After school, the two met up again, this time with Ethan, at Hayley's. "Hey man," Conner said, slapping the Blue Ranger a high five. "Where'd you disappear to this morning? The good doctor said you had some extra credit to do."

"Could we not discuss this?" Ethan said.

Kira frowned. "What's wrong? Is it...uh...you know."

"No, it isn't."

"Then why don't you wanna talk about it?" Conner asked.

"I got a reputation to maintain," Ethan hissed, glancing around furtively before motioning that they should lean in. Which they did. "Okay, turns out I'm not doing so hot in history, and Dr. O. said I could go to study hall and work on my make up project, since we weren't doing anything in class today." He bowed his head reverently. "Good man, Dr. O. Good man."

"What's wrong with history?" Kira said.

Conner and Ethan both turned to her with incredulous expressions. "You're kidding, right?" Conner said. "It's _boring_." Ethan nodded emphatically.

"But you're all gung-ho with the dinosaur stuff whenever Dr. O. brings it up."

"He isn't talking about some dead bones, he's talking about giant robots that I get to play with," Ethan said.

"This whole superhero thing is just one big dork wet dream for you, isn't it?" Kira said, rolling her eyes.

"Yup," Ethan said. "So what'd I miss in class?"

"We worked on our lab," Conner said.

"What did _you_ guys do?" Ethan said.

"We worked on our lab," Conner repeated.

"Wait, you worked?" Ethan raised his eyebrows at Kira. "Conner worked?"

"Yeah," she said. "He's not stupid, Ethan."

Conner felt the tips of his ears burning. He wasn't blushing, was he? Please dear god, don't let him be blushing. Ethan raised his eyebrows at Kira, unaware of Conner's reaction to her compliment. "Are you..._defending_ him?"

"What? No! God, Ethan. I'm just saying...well, come on, he's your leader, after all, you could show him an iota of respect." Coming from the girl who had never shown him an iota of respect herself, Conner couldn't help staring. She found him watching her and looked slightly agitated. "What?"

"You don't show me _any_ respect."

"See?" Ethan said, slapping his hand against the table. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Trent said, coming to their table with a pad of paper in one hand. Ethan greeted him familiarly, but Kira was positively beaming at him. Conner felt an odd twinge of disgust at her rapturous expression.

"Cool, man, cool," Ethan said. "Can I get a raspberry-banana smoothie?"

"Sure thing," Trent said, scribbling it down. "Conner, man?"

"I dunno," Conner said. "Uh...just a soda, I guess. Coke."

"Can do. And I assume you'll be getting your usual?" Trent directed at Kira.

"Yep. Mineral water--"

"--with a twist of lemon," he finished for her, grinning, and she blushed slightly, lowering her gaze to the table. Conner felt ill.

"You know what, guys, I'm gonna have to get a rain check on that Coke. I don't feel so hot. I'm outta here." He pushed away from the table and stalked towards the door.

He had made it only so far down the block when Ethan came panting up to his side. "What the hell happened back there?" he demanded. "Everything was all hunky-dory, then suddenly you couldn't stand the sight of us."

"I just had to get out of there," was all Conner committed to, not looking at his friend.

"Why, 'cause of Trent? I thought you liked the guy."

"Did I say it was 'cause of Trent?"

"You left right after he showed up." Ethan paused, and ended up stopping dead in the middle of the sidewalk. A little kid on a bike made rude comments as he swerved to avoid him, but Ethan took no notice. "It's Kira, isn't it."

"What?" Conner said, turning to look at him with an annoyed expression.

"I'm right, aren't I," Ethan said, the slightest hint of a smile on his lips. "This morning, when I was teasing you...I was totally right. You like Kira."

"Why does everyone keep _saying_ that?" Conner complained, raising his eyes skyward. "Look. Kira's cool and all, I guess, but I'm so not into her like that. Okay? So could everyone just back off?"

"Who else said you did?"

"Hayley."

"Is Hayley _ever_ wrong?"

Though Conner was loath to admit it, Hayley was rarely wrong. "Look, dude," he said, "I can't like Kira, okay? She's a teammate."

"So? Dr. O. used to date his teammates."

"How do you know this?"

"Did you not _watch_ the whole 'my life as a Power Ranger' true confessions video thing?" Ethan said. "Dr. O. so totally had a thing going on with that Pink Ranger. And if he ever talked to us that isn't a lecture of some kind, he'd probably own up to it."

"He'd never talk to us in a non-lecture. And he'd never own up to something like that," Conner said. "Dr. O. is way secretive, especially when it comes to the ladies." He sighed. "And reason number two why I can't like Kira is because she's all drooly over Trent."

"Those are reasons why you _can't_ like Kira, not reasons why you _don't_ like Kira," Ethan observed. "So you do."

"I...okay, maybe I do. I don't know," Conner said. "I mean, I don't think I do...I get worried sometimes, when we're fighting, and..."

"You never miss one of her shows," Ethan pointed out.

"Neither do you," Conner defended himself.

"Yeah, but I'm not the one up in the front row with the goofy grin."

"I am not grinning goofily."

"Shut up. You are. Look, if you like Kira, move fast, dork boy. Because you're right, she is all drooly over Trent. I think it's that whole brooding, misunderstood artist thing she's attracted to. I mean, c'mon now, when was the last time _you_ drew a picture of her as a superhero?"

"You're not helping."

"Was I supposed to?" Ethan retorted.

"I can't like her," Conner stated again plaintively. "I mean, she hates me." He knew that he was just searching for excuses. There was no denying it now...he did like Kira. Great, a crush on a teammate that hated his guts.

"Oh, please, she doesn't hate you. She just...doesn't understand you. And frankly, I can't blame her. Every time I think I get you, you go and pull something on me. Like, you actually do your lab. Or you have a crush on Kira."

"I gotta _do_ something, dude."

"Well, I suggest you move fast. 'Cause if you don't, Trent probably will."

"No, I mean, I gotta do something about this stupid crush. I gotta make it go away, or something."

"Oh really." Ethan rolled his eyes. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I have no idea."

"How exactly did you get to be leader, again? Because you're not the brains of the group, not by a long shot."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"Well, what do you want me to say? Last time I had a crush on a girl, it was last year on April Saunders."

"Oh, I remember her!" Conner said. "That artist chick. You know what, I wish Trent had moved here earlier, he could've hooked up with her instead."

"That's a stab to my wounded heart, friend. But yeah, she was incredible. I really liked her."

"You two didn't hook up or anything, though."

"She moved away." Ethan shook his head. "I never got over it."

"Comforting."

"Look, either you ask her out, or you don't. Either you get over it, or you don't. But you can't avoid her; it's stupid to even think so. You two are teammates, you're pretty much forced into working together. So listen, I told Kira I would just be ducking out for a second, and I'm gonna head back before she thinks I got attacked or something. You coming with?"

"Um...yeah, I guess so," Conner conceded, and he followed Ethan back inside.

Kira looked up from her computer screen, sipping at her mineral water. "Hey!" she said when Conner sat down. "Are you feeling okay?" Genuine concern was in her eyes.

"Yeah," Conner said, forcing a smile. "I just felt a little, uh...nauseous. Needed some fresh air."

"He was puking in an alley when I found him," Ethan said.

"Ew, you were?" Kira asked, looking as though she was about to move her chair away.

"No, I wasn't," Conner said, glaring at Ethan. "He's an idiot."

"Back to normal, I see," Ethan said.

"So you're sure you're doing okay," Kira pressed.

"I'm fine, really, I swear. In fact, I'm kinda hungry. You guys up for some kind of baked good or something? On me..." he added in a tantalizing tone.

"Conner McKnight is buying? The earth is the sky, and the sky the earth," Ethan marveled. "Hook me up with two espresso brownies."

"No way, dude!" Conner said, laughing. "You get one baked good. That's it. Kira, anything for you?"

"Um...just a blueberry muffin, I guess," she said with a confused smile. She raked her gaze around the Cyberspace. "Where's Trent..?"

"That's okay!" Conner said quickly, standing up. "I'll just go up to the bar and get it."

"Gee, Conner, why wouldn't you want Trent to do it?" Ethan flashed him a mocking grin.

"He's just, uh, really busy, is all," Conner covered, knowing how lame his excuse sounded. "Fine, two espresso brownies. You pig."

"Thought so," Ethan said, leaning back with a self-satisfied smirk.

Conner rolled his eyes and went over to the bar. "Hey, Conner, how goes it?" Hayley said, fixing him with a smile as she polished a glass.

"Hey. Uh, can I get a large Coke, two espresso brownies, a slice of cheesecake, and a blueberry muffin." He glanced over his shoulder at Kira. "The largest one you've got."

"Have you been thinking about what I said?" she asked, following his gaze to the table.

"Sadly, yeah."

"'Sadly'? What's the problem?"

"Your busboy."

"Right, of course."

"You know everything, Hales...do I have a chance?" Conner asked.

"I'd say you have a fair chance," she said, handing over the tray with Conner's order. "If I were you, I wouldn't give Ethan two of those brownies."

"Whatever shuts him up."

"Your funeral," she said, and went to tend to another customer.

Conner wove his way through the afternoon crowd back to the table, and set it down. "Muffin for the lady," he said grandly, handing it over.

"God, Conner, the DinoZords couldn't even take this muffin down!" Kira said, laughing. "It's huge!"

"I like to do things big," he said with a shrug. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ethan grabbing for his brownies. Quickly Conner drew the tray away. "Hayley told me not to give you these."

"Hayley doesn't know anything," Ethan said, and snatched one.

Conner glanced at Kira, who rolled her eyes, and they had to stifle their laughter. "Hey, Kira, you're not performing today, are you?" Conner asked, slicing off a piece of his cheesecake and stuffing it into his mouth.

"No, not until Friday. You're coming, right?"

"Have I ever missed one?"

"Not so far."

"I figure I have to have a perfect attendance record in _something_," he said, grinning at her, and she smiled back.

"God, can you two stop flirting, please?" Ethan said. "I _am_ trying to eat."

"We're _not_ flirting," Conner said hotly, as Kira spoke the same defense simultaneously.

"Whatever," Ethan said.

Conner stared into the mouth of his soda glass, before finally chancing a glance at Kira. He found her glancing back at him, and they both looked away quickly. _Great_, Conner thought, _now she probably thinks I like her or something._

When he finally finished an unnecessarily long swig of his Coke, Conner saw that Ethan was again immersed in a video game, and wouldn't be much conversation. He instead turned to Kira. "So, what're you looking at?"

"Just surfing for some info on pterodactyls." She sounded a little embarrassed.

"Wow, when'd you become research girl?"

"Well, I figured this would be cool to learn about, you know? Seeing as how I fly one and all," she added in an undertone.

"Do you like it?" Conner asked.

"Like what?"

"You know." He gestured erratically, hoping to somehow mime his point without being obvious, but instead just looking like an idiot. "World-Saving Club."

"Oh. Well...yeah, I guess so. I mean, it has its good points and its bad points."

"Like..?"

"The bad points should be obvious, like the constant sneaking around, and the threats on your life, getting kidnapped wasn't fun, and not to mention the fact that I never seem to have time for myself, you know?" She smiled ruefully. "But the good points...it's cool to be helping people, and it's cool to be respected, even though it's always the Yellow Ranger who gets all the credit. It's a good work out. And I get to hang out with some pretty cool people. Plus, I always have an excuse for missing science homework."

"Oh--" Conner began, but was cut off by Trent's arrival. "Hey, Kira, can I talk to you for a sec?" the busboy asked, and Kira was all too happy to comply, much to Conner's annoyance.

Motion directly in Ethan's range caused him to look up. "Where's Kira going?"

"Off with Trent."

"Bummer for you."

"Yep." Conner devoured the rest of his cheesecake in one incredibly rich bite, swigged his Coke in an attempt to wash it down, but made a face from the intense sugar dosage provided by his swift exit. "I'm gonna head out and get some practice in, as long as things are slow. Catch you later."

As Conner got into his car, his red '65 Mustang that had been painstakingly restored by his father, and presented to Conner on his sixteenth birthday, he decided to himself that it would just be easier on all three of them if he got over his crush on Kira pronto. If Ethan had picked up on it, then Kira certainly had. Girls had a whole intuition about those things. She was probably just being nice to him because she knew that he liked her, and she felt sorry for him because he didn't have a chance in the world (stupid Trent!). Besides. Kira, incredibly cool girl as she was, was completely wrong for him. Except for the whole Power Ranger thing, they had zip in common. It just spelled disaster.

Like any crush, though, getting over it would be easier in theory than in practice.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the week passed fairly uneventfully. Mesogog must have been taking a few sick days, because there were no monsters or Drone attacks on Reefside, and there were no eggs to find, so Doctor Oliver didn't need them for anything. As such, Conner managed to speak to Kira only in science class, the only class they had together, and kept his afternoon busy by playing soccer. It was also good for clearing his mind, which he needed. Although Ethan was prone to randomly stopping him after class to give him the latest play-by-play in the saga of Trent and Kira. Conner told him repeatedly not to, but Ethan must have picked up on the soccer player's masochistic urge to hear it. But the news of the day was that Trent was going out of town for an indeterminate amount of time, a vacation whim of his psychotic father, the secret he had divulged to Kira the day Conner had started his vow of silence.

Conner wasn't sure how to feel about this, but at Ethan's urging, he found himself joining his partners in crime fighting at the Cyberspace that afternoon.

"Hey! Conner, long time no see!" Kira said.

"You saw me in class this morning," Conner pointed out, a half-smirk crossing his face at the thought that he was, for once, not the one making stupid comments that could be mocked.

"Yeah, well, you're not big on talking in class, so you might as well not be there. Where have you been, anyway?"

"Soccer. I have a tendency to miss it when I'm away." Sort of like how he was developing the tendency to miss Kira when she was away. He thought getting away from her would be good for his system, but the adage of absence making the heart grow fonder was apparently true. And now he was going to be here for Kira's weekly performance, which was just going to be hell on him.

"Understandable."

"Hey, Kira, you're cutting it kind of close, aren't you?" Hayley said, swooping in on them. "Your band is already here."

"Oops," Kira said, casting Conner a sheepish look before fixating on the floor with a much more humiliated expression, then retreating to the safety of her band.

Hayley continued to hover. "Welcome back," she said to Conner, handing him a large Coke.

"Yeah."

"I figured you couldn't make it the whole week."

"Well, Ethan begged and pleaded. You know how he hates to be alone," Conner cracked. Ethan glared at him, but that was the extent of the rebuke. Both boys knew that if Ethan kicked him under the table or the like, Conner could easily kick his butt.

"I meant Friday is Kira's stage time," Hayley returned with a knowing smile. Conner fought to keep from being rude. Hayley was nice enough, and she was smart, and Conner trusted her as far as his secret identity went, but her know-it-all attitude was beginning to get on his last nerve. Especially when all she ever talked about was his unfortunate infatuation with his teammate. "So, are you going to ask her to the dance?"

"Dance?" Conner repeated blankly.

"Dude," Ethan said. "I know you're more or less a dumb jock, but you're also one of the school's top pretty boys, so you must have had a horde of girls flocking around you, begging for dates."

"There's a dance?" Conner said again. He really hadn't noticed much of anything.

"Yes," Ethan said, rolling his eyes. "Next week. Dr. O. is chaperoning." He looked at Hayley. "Boy's useless."

"No kidding," Hayley said, walking away to deal with her other patrons.

"You know--" Ethan started, but the music flared up, drawing the boys' attention to the stage.

Once the set was over, Kira returned to their table. "You were great," Conner told her sincerely.

"Thanks."

"Hey, did you know about this dance thing?" Conner said, then realized that she might think it some kind of invitation or something, and covered with, "Of course you wouldn't."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked hotly, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Conner backpedaled. "I mean, it's just not your kind of scene..."

"And why not?"

"Well, it's, like, a dress up thing, and you're not the dressing up kind..."

"Dude," he heard Ethan mutter next to him, and he knew he was digging himself a deeper hole the more he spoke, but he just couldn't help it.

"What do you mean, I'm not the 'dressing up' kind? You think that just because I play the guitar and kick Meso-butt that I am somehow incapable of looking nice every now and again? Is that what you're saying?"

"That's not what I'm saying--" Conner said weakly, holding up his hands in a 'don't shoot' gesture, but it was too late for him.

"I don't know where you think you get off, McKnight, because there are so many things that you don't know about me, you know that?"

"I--"

"That does it. I am going to go to that stupid dance, and I am going to prove to you that I am not this little cookie-cutter person that you seem to think I am."

"But--"

"We'll meet at the school, okay?"

"I...uh...okay..." Conner stammered. Kira got up and huffed out of the café, leaving Conner and Ethan staring after her. "Dude, what was that?" Conner asked, bewildered.

"I have no idea."

 

* * *

 

Conner had originally been planning on taking great pains to avoid Kira the next week, but she was doing all the work for him. She didn't once mention the whole dance issue, but on the flip side, she never revoked her pseudo-invitation, so Conner could only assume that it was still on. On Wednesday, Mesogog had apparently gotten bored, and inflicted a giant half-butterfly, half-panda monster on Reefside. It had taken awhile for the Rangers to take him down, but they succeeded without too much help from their plethora of extra Zords. Leaving headquarters, they'd heard Dr. O. complaining to Hayley about how, "Those kids have a Zord for every day of the week. When I started doing this, my Zord kept breaking down or getting controlled by evil forces…"

Thursday came and went without incident, and Ethan called up Friday afternoon. "So, ready for the big date?"

"Dude, shut up," Conner said, kicking his soccer ball at the wall of his room gently, again and again, although his mother had begged him millions of times to not practice in the house. "How'd you get my number?"

"Phone book. School directory. Name it."

"Right. You couldn't use the gems, save the quarter?"

"I don't think we're allowed to use them for non-Ranger purposes. Besides, what if you'd been eating dinner or something, and your wrist started talking to you? Kinda creepy, man. Think about it."

"Huh." Conner was too preoccupied to really pay attention, not that Ethan would ever accept an excuse for his bouts of utter stupidity. "Listen, dude, do you think this is really a date?"

"You think I know, man? I don't know. Kira's crazy."

"I'm not looking forward to this. She'll probably, like, castrate me or something."

"Whoa, check you out, with the big SAT words. Maybe situations of major freak-out, while rendering most people into blobs of quivering jelly incapable of complete sentences, have the opposite effect on you."

"Wait...what?" Conner said.

Ethan sighed. "Or maybe not."

"I'm gonna be late. I'll catch you later."

"I'll be the one laughing at you when Kira hands you yours in a paper cup."

"Yeah. You'll be the one in the corner, who can't get anyone to dance with him."

"Cold, man, real cold."

Laughing, Conner hung up. Moments later, he was on his way to the school, ready to meet Kira outside of the gym. But as he got there, he couldn't see her anywhere. "Maybe she already went inside or something," he said, checking the clock on the wall and seeing that he was on time. He headed for the double gym doors that a small group of kids was filing through.

"Missing something, Conner?"

He turned around…and there she was, hovering at the juncture of the hallway, in a silky yellow dress, her hair piled on top of her head. He swallowed hard; both at the unusual site of Kira all dolled up, and at the simple matter that she was just plain beautiful.

"Whoa."

"I've been waiting, I thought you'd forgotten."

"No, I, uh--" he swallowed again, then shook his head to clear his mind. "Sorry. You look incredible, though."

"Told you so," she said haughtily, then softened, and added almost shyly, "But thanks."

"You proved your point, then…wanna go home?"

"You mean you don't wanna go in?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows.

He matched her expression. "You mean you do?"

"Well, I thought that was what we came here for."

He laughed shortly, reaching up to scratch the back of his head, letting his hair fall over his fingers. "You've got me so confused right now."

"Doesn't take much," she jibed, then downcast her eyes. "Sorry."

He waved it off. He was more or less used to it by now. "So you really want to go in?"

"Well, I mean, I came here to go to the dance...it would seem kind of stupid to back out now."

"I guess you're right." Conner flashed her a nervous smile, which she reciprocated, and they shuffled into the gym. It was garishly decorated with streamers and balloons, and few people were milling about, but most were dancing to the pounding music. Conner leaned in to Kira so she could hear him better, and announced, "You're a million times better than this crap."

Kira looked surprised. "This is Kylee Styles," she informed him. "I thought you were all in love with her."

Oh... Conner covered by flashing her his most winning smile. Kira laughed and rolled her eyes, going towards the punch table. Conner stared at her for a moment, then went to join her. But as he reached for the punch ladle, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned, fist raised instinctively, but it was only a guy from the soccer team, David, flanked by two more players.

"McKnight. What's up with you, dude?" David proclaimed.

"What're you talking about?" Conner said, lowering his hand and relaxing.

"I mean, you miss practices, you don't hang out with the team anymore, you've started making yourself seen with those two weirdos…"

"_What_ two weirdos?" Kira said hotly, turning around and fixing David with her patented death glare. Conner did not envy David in the slightest; Kira looked like she was one unkind word away from bowling David over with one of her supersonic screams.

"Aren't you that Avril wannabe chick?" David said.

"You mean one of the weirdos?" she retorted bitingly.

"Listen, David, just back off, would you?" Conner said in his calmest voice.

"Don't you tell me to step off, McKnight. You're the one hanging out with the freaks and ruining your reputation."

"Hey, listen, they're my _friends_, all right?" Conner said, stepping in between David and Kira (who was looking at David with intent to kill).

"Yeah, right," David scoffed. "Come find me when you get bored and decide to stop slumming it with losers, McKnight. You're better than that. You'll remember who your real friends are." With a final half-snarl at Kira, David and his friends started to stalk off.

"Hey, Wingate!" Conner yelled, and David and the cronies turned back to look. "_Kira_ is my real friend, thanks," he announced, grabbing Kira around the waist and giving her a showy kiss on the lips before turning to an awestruck David again. "How about you come find _me_ when you get bored and decide to pull your head out of your butt."

David and the cronies gaped at Conner and Kira for a few moments, before heading into the crowd. It was only when they departed that Conner realized what was going on. He had just kissed _Kira_, of all people, and now half of the school was looking at him.

He wanted to run, and was debating whether or not it would be a good option. But Kira saved him from making the decision, and ran out of the gym herself.

"Kira--" He started to chase after her, but Cassidy jumped in front of him, Devin next to her, fumbling with a camera, and looking embarrassed. "Cassidy Cornell, Reefside High News," she announced in her usual grandiose tone, sticking a microphone in Conner's face.

"I know who you are, Cass, we have science together," Conner said impatiently, pushing the microphone away and gazing at the doors that Kira had just evacuated out of.

"Whatever," Cassidy said dismissively. "Conner McKnight, inquiring minds are dying to know, what's the deal with you and Kira Ford? Is the mighty soccer star finally off the market? Why on earth would--"

"Cassidy, stuff it," Ethan said, coming out of nowhere and pushing her and Devin aside. He stood in front of Conner, dragging the taller boy's attention away from the doors. "Conner, man..."

"Dude, I don't have time for this," Conner said, shaking his head and shoving his friend aside and deciding to follow Kira. As he went into the hallway, he found that Kira was already gone. With a swell of music from the gym doors being opened, and then silence again, Ethan joined his teammate.

"What are you _on_, man, are you crazy?" Ethan said.

"So you saw, huh," Conner said.

"Everyone pretty much _saw_, Conner."

"Oh..." Conner squinted his eyes shut, grabbing a handful of his hair and groaning. "Oh, great. Just great. Just..."

There was another swell of music, and Dr. Oliver was joining them. "If it isn't Romeo..."

"Don't you start," Conner cautioned his teacher, then collapsed against the wall with another piteous groan. "You should maybe start looking for a replacement, Dr. O. Because Kira's probably going to kill me."

"If she was going to kill you, don't you think she would have stuck around to do it?" Dr. O. said.

"She's probably plotting something."

"Conner, man, I don't know too much about girls--" Ethan snorted at this, and the teacher flashed him a dirty look. "--but I can guess that Kira probably isn't as ticked off as you'd think. Girls who run out of dances are probably somewhere crying."

"Kira's not your average girl," Conner pointed out, thinking that that was what had gotten him into this whole mess in the first place. "Aw, man, and when _Trent_ finds out..."

"Please, you're a Power Ranger, and you're scared of a busboy?" Ethan said, smirking.

"Good point." He glanced to Dr. O. "What should I do, dude?"

"Don't call me dude, for starters. How many times have I told you that? And as for the rest of it...well, find Kira and try to explain yourself, I guess. If you can do that."

Conner wasn't sure he _could_ explain himself, but he nodded. He looked to Ethan. "Hayley's should still be open, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ethan said, obviously bemused. "It's not too late."

"Okay, great." Conner started down the hall.

"Wait, you suddenly want a smoothie now?" Ethan said.

"It's Friday, isn't it?" Conner called over his shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4

Kira was in the middle of a song when Conner got to the Cyberspace. She was still wearing the yellow dress, but had slipped on a pair of black pants underneath it for a funky look, and had let her hair down in a set of messy curls. There was a small crowd; most of the usual patrons were at the dance. So she noticed immediately when Conner entered the room, and her playing faltered. She recovered in the span of a second, though, and finished the song perfectly. There was scattered applause, and when she didn't immediately launch into another song, Conner made his way up to the stage. "Kira, can we talk?"

He waited for a biting retort, but she just stared at him for a beat. "Yeah. Talk. Okay. You've got a lot to explain, for starters." She signaled to the band, put down her guitar, and followed him to sit down on the couch. She sat as far away from him on the small couch as she could. "Explain."

"I don't know what happened," he said. She glared at him. "I mean, I _know_ what happened, I just don't know...I don't know _why_. I mean...I'm sorry, okay? It just happened, I don't know what on earth I was thinking, and I'm just really sorry, is all."

"Did you see the look on David Wingate's face?" Kira said, smiling. "He was on the verge of a major meltdown."

"Yeah," Conner said, and allowed himself the briefest of laughs. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Yes. No. I...don't know. Maybe."

"Just maybe?" he found himself asking hopefully.

"Well...I mean...I just...you didn't exactly _mean_ anything by it, it was just to prove a point, right?" Conner didn't say anything. "Right?" Kira said again. "I mean, it's not like you _like_ me or anything..." Conner looked down at his shoes.

"Oh my..." Kira said.

"Look, I didn't mean for this to happen," Conner said.

"So you do like me."

"...Yeah," he admitted with a sigh, leaning back on the couch and raising his eyes skyward. "I'm sorry, okay? It just...happened, out of nowhere, and I know that it's, like, wrong, 'cause you're my teammate, and that you like Trent and all that."

Kira had her hands folded in her lap, and she was staring at them. "I don't know what to say."

"I should go," he said, standing up. "You have a set to finish. I just wanted to apologize."

"Conner, don't go, I--"

"See ya," he said.

 

* * *

 

In the confines of his room, Conner lay back on his bed, staring at his ceiling in the dark, and allowing himself to dwell on what he'd ignored until now.

He had kissed Kira. After what seemed like ages of having more-than-friendly feelings towards her, and about a week now of fully actualized crush, he had done what had previously seemed impossible. And somehow, he'd survived.

It hadn't been a _real_ kiss. It had been impromptu, ostentatious, and he'd given her virtually no window in which to respond --if she'd even _wanted_ to respond. He highly doubted that, but he let his mind retrace the soft, warm curves of her lips anyway. He had vague memories of her light scent --something flowery that had completely surprised him-- because unfortunately, scents could only be remembered when smelled again. All too well he felt the slight crick in his neck that came from stooping to kiss her, because she was a head shorter than he was.

He replayed the moment in his mind for what seemed like an eternity, because he had decided that after tonight, he was letting it become the most distant of memories. He was going to revoke his crush on Kira, for the sake of the team. Maybe he could find a soccer groupie to date for awhile.

The Dino Gem implanted in his bracelet began to flash, the red light a beacon in his dark room. With a sigh, he answered the call. "Yo."

"Conner, we've got a problem downtown," Dr. O. said.

"Figures. What sort?"

"The bad sort that likes to stomp on things and scare the living daylights out of the populace," Dr. O. answered dryly. "Care to come help?"

Though he knew it was sarcastic and rhetorical, Conner had to fight the urge to answer the question honestly. Instead, he sat up. "I'm on my way," he said.

When he arrived on the scene in morph, Conner found Dr. O. surrounded by Tyrannodrones and just barely holding them at bay. "Where is everyone?" Conner asked, calling out his staff while he ran into the melee. He began to whip it around, making connections with body parts left and right, letting out all of his pent-up hormones in one fierce fight until they finally backed off Dr. O. enough that the teacher could breathe. "You're the first one here," Dr. O. said, moving in so they were back to back, both brandishing staffs, just barely keeping the circle of drones at bay.

"And your little friend Zeltrax hasn't made an appearance yet?"

"I think he's waiting for me to have a heart attack first."

"At your age, that should be any second now," Conner cracked, and was fortunate enough to have the drones, having caught their second wind, rush in and save him from Dr. O.'s rebuke.

As Conner found himself hip-deep in drones, he heard from somewhere outside his personal battle the cry of "Tricera Shield!" The cavalry had arrived, and not a moment too soon. Conner's earlier adrenaline was waning, and since he'd already been tired that day and that adrenaline had been emotionally produced, it wasn't lapsing into nothing, but segueing straight into an aching exhaustion. He was doing pretty well all things considered, but the drones were landing more blows on him than he was on them.

"Is it just me, or are there more than I remember?" Ethan queried as he used his shield to bodily throw a drone from Conner.

"Maybe it's their mating season," Conner said. The drones were finally backing off a little, and the two teenagers joined their teacher, breathing heavily.

"They don't mate," Dr. O. informed them.

"Says you," Ethan said. "That _Jurassic Park_ guy was convinced that all of his dinos were female, and that there was zero threat...look how well that turned out."

"I hate to admit it, Dr. O.," Conner said, "but the sci-fi geek here is right."

"Oh, no, I think they're ready to go again," Ethan observed glumly as the drones started to move in.

An invisoportal opened right on top of them, and the three Rangers scrambled to get out of the way of Zeltrax and Elsa as they appeared. "Miss us, Rangers?" Elsa said.

"Like a hole in the head," Conner said, trying to keep the exhaustion out of his voice.

"I can have that arranged," she answered, and lunged at him, just as Zeltrax went for Dr. O., and the drones launched themselves en masse at Ethan. Concerned as he was for his swamped teammates, Conner was in no position to assist them, as he was having issues just staying upright. Elsa had gotten a lot tougher from the last time they'd faced, although Conner seemed to recall going head-on against her and Zeltrax --and kicking tail. But that was another time, and he was a very weary boy.

"Sorry I'm late!" he heard Kira calling. "Ptera Grips!" The sound of her voice seemed to infuse him with a second bout of energy, and he matched Elsa move for move. He heard whoops of accomplishment as the Blue and Yellow Rangers triumphed over the cache of drones, and he heard Zeltrax groan as Dr. O. landed a particularly painful blow. Distracted somewhat by their victory, Conner was caught off guard, and Elsa swept him. He went down hard, harder than he should have, and could feel pain coursing through his body. She stood over him, lifting up her foot as if to squash a bug. Until he realized that his throat was the bug. But there was a burst of light and sound, and she stumbled over him, tipping and falling a few feet away. Conner realized through a bit of a haze that Ethan and Kira had lasered Elsa. "I'm not done with you, Rangers," she threatened for what seemed like the millionth time, as she and the others went off in an invisoportal.

Conner very slowly got to his feet as Ethan and Kira rushed over to help him up. "You okay?" Kira asked.

Conner pressed a hand to the small of his back, and felt a fresh jolt of pain. "Define 'okay,'" he moaned. "I should be fine in a little while. A few hours. Or years. I'll get back to you on that." The quartet demorphed, and the pain intensified somewhat. But he pretended not to notice. Kira was gazing at him with concern in her eyes, but he ignored her gaze.

"It's late, you guys, you'd better get home," Dr. O. said.

"Right," they chorused halfheartedly, and split up. Conner's first instinct was to offer Kira a ride, but remembered his resolution and refrained.

"Conner, man, wait up!" Ethan called, jogging to catch up with Conner. "So, you talk to Kira?"

"Yeah."

"_And_?" Ethan said impatiently. Conner didn't really want to talk about this, but if he was to talk, Ethan would be the only one that he could talk to. David had been right; Conner really had cut himself off from his old crowd.

"And, well, I let it slip that I liked her."

"And?"

"_And_ that's it. I went home. Dr. O. called me out here. That's all."

"Worst story ever."

"Yeah, well, too bad for you. I've already decided that it's over between me and Kira."

"How can it be over? It never was," Ethan pointed out.

"You know what I mean. Look, I really don't want to talk about this, okay?"

"Fine, bro, I'll catch you tomorrow." With an eye roll, Ethan went off.

Conner didn't quite make it home. He'd spent plenty of time earlier sitting in his room, and it wasn't late enough yet that he'd get into trouble if he wasn't home. So instead he drove around Reefside aimlessly, trying to get a hold of himself.

Until he spotted a figure walking that looked very familiar. He slowed the car and pulled to the curb. He rolled down the window, wondering if he was overstepping boundaries. He had no idea anymore. "Hey, Kira!"

She stopped and looked over. "Conner?"

"Do you need a ride somewhere or something?"

"I'm just out for a walk."

"It's dark."

"I can take care of myself, Conner," she said, then added, "duh."

"I know you can. I'm just saying that dark implies late, and late could mean that you're in trouble. Wouldn't want you to get grounded."

"That's my prerogative, wouldn't you say?"

"Fine, you know what, walk, whatever, I don't care," he said, and revved the engine.

Her hand was on the passenger side door, her fingers just barely inside the car. "Conner, wait." She sighed and got in the car. Conner pulled away from the curb. "How's your back?" she asked.

"It's fine now." Satisfied with this, she queried no more, and they drove in silence for a little while before Conner blurted, "Can I just say something?" She didn't respond, so he assumed it was a yes. "Look. I've gone out with a bunch of girls, and I liked them, but I've never really...well, uh," he wanted to phrase this as best he could without making himself out to be an enormous idiot, but realized that in order to do that, he'd have to go back in time. "I've never really had a crush on a girl before. So I'm not really sure what I was or wasn't supposed to do, but I think I screwed it up, and I'm really sorry about that."

"Yeah, well, I never really had anyone have a crush on me before," she said, and as he glanced at her, she flashed him a self-conscious grin. He blushed, he couldn't help it. "I'm not mad," she said. "I'm a little weirded out, yeah, but I'm also kind of flattered...I mean, you are the most eligible bachelor in the school, according to the stalls of the girls' bathroom."

That was nice to hear and all, but what he really wanted was an answer out of this. He would accept just about any kind of answer at this point, no matter how extreme, so long as his problems were solved and he could get back to normal. Or at least, what passed for normal these days.

"Just tell me what I should do," he said.

"I...god. You think I know?" she said. "I'm trying to wrap my brain around this just as much as you are, you know."

"What's there to wrap around?" Conner said, feeling anger getting the better of him, though he kept it out of his voice exceptionally well. "I like you. There, I said it, no hinting, no vagueness, it's out there and it's done. Now you have two choices. Either you like me back, or you don't. This isn't an end-of-the-world dilemma."

"Why are you mad at me?" she asked, the anger in her voice where it was absent from his. "I didn't ask for this, Conner, you're the one who made it my problem. This isn't exactly easy for me, you know, you just springing something like that on me. Out of frigging nowhere, and now I have to...I mean, you're a Power Ranger, and we work together, and we...we've gone to school together for three _years_ now, Conner, why me, why now? Why not in freshman year, when I wouldn't have minded?"

"Wait...what?"

Kira shrugged, slightly embarrassed, but acknowledging that it was the past. "Conner, you were cute and friendly and popular, not to mention the only underclassman in history to make the varsity team. Every girl had a crush on you in ninth grade."

Conner could not keep the grin off his face. "_You_ had a crush on me!" he teased. "I can't believe it! Kira Ford, Reefside's own answer to Alanis Morissette, and you had a _crush_ on a _jock_. What, did you write my name on your notebook, circle it in little hearts?"

"Shut up, would you?" she said.

"Aw, c'mon, like I'm ever going to let you live this down."

"You are absolutely insufferable," she said, rolling her eyes. "Turn here."

"What?"

"Turn here. This is my street."

"Oh." He flicked the signal and turned.

"Anyway, that was two years ago, and you wouldn't give me the time of day."

"You never spoke to me once."

"Oh, and you would have talked to me if I had? This is my house, up here on the right," she said.

"I might have." Conner pulled to the curb.

"You would not have," she countered, not getting out of the car. "I wasn't popular."

"C'mon, Kira, I'm a lot of things, but I'm not that shallow. And what are you even talking about, you don't care what people think about you. That's one of the things I like about you," he added, and realized that all things considered, that probably wasn't the road that he should be going back down.

"I don't. I just...god, Conner, this isn't easy."

"You said that already." A thought struck him. "Why isn't it easy? Maybe because you think you might like me after all?"

"I should go," she said, clamoring to unbuckle her seat belt.

"We're not done talking about this," Conner huffed, as Kira all but leapt out of the car and stalked across her front lawn. Conner cursed under his breath and chased after her. "Kira, for the love of--would you just stop?"

She stopped, turned, and glared at him. "I don't want to talk about this."

"What, ever?"

"No, not ever, not if I can help it. _God_, Conner, you know what this is all about? This is all about the stupid Rangers! You didn't even know I existed for the past two years --whether I wanted you to or not-- and now suddenly you have a thing for me because you're forced into hanging out with me every day. And I'm supposed to fall head over heels for that? I don't think so, Conner. Just...just go home, okay?" She ran the rest of the way up to her house and slammed the front door behind her.

He sighed and got back in his car. Girls sucked.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why do they call it a crush, anyway?" Conner asked the next morning, taking a seat at the island in the kitchen and tossing an apple back and forth between his hands. "Oh, yeah, because it rips out your internal organs and stomps the living crap out of them. Crush."

"Oh, Conner, sweetie," his mother said with a sad smile, putting down her frying pan and sitting across from him. "Who is it?"

"This girl from school." Conner sighed and rolled his eyes. "She's a psychopath."

"I'm glad to see you're expanding your horizons," she said dryly.

He took a heavy bite of his apple and chewed it more than necessary before swallowing and saying, "She's completely crazy, Mom. Last night I found out that she had a crush on me back in, like, ninth grade. And now she hates me, and I don't freaking get it."

"Girls are complicated, honey."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I can't. You're a teenager, you already think you know everything. And here's something else you should know. You're going to be late for soccer practice, honey."

"Am I?" Conner checked the clock on the wall. He'd overslept this morning, owing to the fact that he'd spent half of last night getting overly frustrated with himself and engaging in a boxing match with his pillow. "I guess I am. Hmm. I should really get a watch or something."

"You mean you don't have one?" He shook his head. "Then what's that on your wrist--?" she asked, reaching her hand out for his com bracelet.

He jerked his hand away. "Nothing, nothing," he said quickly. He stood up.

His mother grinned. "I bet I know what that is."

Conner paled, hit by a wave of panic, that combated with the notion in his brain that there was no possible way his mother could know that her son was actually the Red Ranger.

"It's a gift from that girl, isn't it," she said.

Conner relaxed. "Yeah, it is," he said. "Gotta go, Mom, see you later."

"Have fun at practice. Oh, and Conner? Good luck with your girl," she said.

"Right. Thanks," Conner answered, grabbing his jacket and backpack and running out to his car. He neglected to mention to his mother that today was the day he fully intended to snag one of the soccer groupies that had been coming to watch him since the ninth grade. If there was any way to get over Kira, replacing her had to be it.

Conner jogged across the field to where Zack Clark, the team captain, was giving the team a pep talk of some kind. Everyone had always assumed that Conner would be made the captain, but he was too much of a rogue to assume the role and didn't want the responsibility heaped on him. Ironic, how the same year that he had denied captainship of the team, he had been made into the leader of the Power Rangers.

"You're late, McKnight."

"No way," Conner panted. "It's five of."

"Whatever, let's just get going, all right?" Zack said.

Conner threw himself into practice, playing with a ferocity that he rarely pulled out of his bag for practices, only for games. But he was currently a ball of hormones, so it seemed appropriate to just let loose. He was exhausted when Zack finally blew the whistle that they could go home, and he squeezed his water bottle at his face. Some of it got in his mouth, most of it splashed his face, dripping off his hair. "You were really good, McKnight. I hope you can keep that up for our game next week."

"Is there any doubt?" Conner asked.

"Sometimes you catch me by surprise, Conner," Zack said. "Like your bizarro little stunt with that weird singer chick at the dance last night. I know you were just trying to piss Wingate off, but that was a creepy way to go about doing it."

Conner shrugged and turned away, knowing that if he'd been facing Zack, the senior would probably have seen Conner's pained expression. "Yeah, well, I like to spice things up," Conner said, keeping his voice detached and nonchalant. "But as far as girls go, I've seen a lot weirder than Kira Ford, you know? Most chicks will play head games with you, but least with her, you always know where you stand."

"Gotta admire that, I guess," Zack said. Conner chanced a glance at his teammate. Zack smirked. "So where exactly do you stand with her?"

Conner laughed. "She hates my guts after that little stunt."

"I can imagine. But you guys are like, friends or some junk, right? You two and that Ethan kid from the computer club."

"Yeah, they're pretty decent people," Conner admitted. "We got saddled together for a, uh, group project, and it turns out they're not half bad."

"Hmm. Well, whatever. Just keep your game in check and get back to me."

"Can do," Conner said. He crossed the field on the way to his car, but was stopped en route by the sight of two girls sitting on the bleachers. He recognized them, two sophomore girls who'd been watching him since last year. Decently cute, but cookie cutter preppy types, no real individual mark like Kira. But he wasn't supposed to be thinking about Kira. Using that as his resolve, he approached. "Hey."

They regarded each other with wide eyes, before the blond spoke. "Ohmigod, you're Conner McKnight."

"Um...yep," he said, tossing his bocce ball up in the air and catching it neatly.

"Why are you talking to _us_?" the brunette asked, as awestruck as her friend, but slightly more suspicious.

"Well, you two come to practices a lot," Conner said, "and I just thought it was really cool that you supported us so much. And I wanted to say thanks."

They looked at each other again, stifling giggles just barely, but unable to hide their incredulous and yet overjoyed grins. The blond smiled. "Well, you're...really good. You know?"

"I hope you mean the whole team and not just me," he said. "Because it's a group effort all the way."

"Oh, we do, we do," the brunette said, apparently convinced that his team player attitude --something that he admittedly hadn't really had before becoming a Ranger-- made him a sweet guy, and he wasn't trying to trick them into anything. Conner couldn't help but wonder what on earth had happened to her to make her hold that suspicion. "You're all fantastic."

"I was just going to head out and get a post-practice snack," he said. "Do you guys want to come?"

They glanced at each other yet again.

"Is he..." the brunette said.

"Are you..." the blond said.

"You're dating that weird guitarist though, aren't you?" the brunette finally said.

Conner blinked. "Kira?"

The blond looked dismayed when he mentioned Kira's name, but he quickly added, "No, no, nothing like that."

"Oh," they breathed simultaneously, their faces infused with hope again.

"So...food?" he asked.

The blond opened her mouth to answer, but the words that floated through the air were, "Conner! There you are; I've been looking for you."

Since the girl in front of him hadn't spoken, he turned around, and saw Kira crossing the grass to him. "Yeah, well, I'm on the soccer field, that comes as a surprise to you?" he said.

"Not in the slightest. Would you come with me? We need to talk."

The sophomores both slumped. "Told you," the brunette muttered, as Kira dragged Conner off before he could explain anything to the girls.

"Kira, for the love of--what are you _doing_?"

A safe distance away from the bleachers and Conner's would-be distraction, Kira faced him and rolled her eyes before saying, "Look, I was unfair to you yesterday, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry for going off on you. It was really unnecessary."

"Oh, you think?"

"I'm trying to apologize, idiot, don't make this any harder than it already is."

"With heartfelt sentimentality like that, how can I say no?"

"Why are you so huffy all of a sudden? I thought you'd be thrilled that I was sorry."

"Because I was talking to those girls and you dragged me away."

"What, bored with me already?" she asked.

"You didn't want me to like you anyway, remember?"

"You're making this whole 'feeling bad' thing _really_ hard."

"And you're making this whole liking you thing even harder."

"Then maybe you should just stop."

"I'm _trying_ to," he grumbled, "but you just killed my best chance."

"Soccer groupies," she said flatly.

"People who actually _like_ me. Unlike a ridiculous crush on the one girl at school who hates my guts."

"I don't hate your guts, Conner, geez!"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it!" he said. They were both yelling now, which embarrassed Conner greatly, but before he could think of a way to get out of this and keep his dignity in tact, Kira had grabbed the collar of his soccer uniform and pulled him down to her height to kiss him squarely on the mouth.

He didn't have a chance to really get into it before she released him. He spluttered. "What...was _that_?"

"Payback," she said hotly, then a fierce blush set her face aflame, as horror seeped into her eyes and she darted away.

"Kira... _Kira_!" he said, sighing as he realized he was going to have to chase her yet again. He grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Would you just stop running away so we can a freaking conversation? And I mean a real one this time, no yelling."

"We have nothing to talk about."

"We have _everything_ to talk about," he said. She still looked uncertain; annoyed, even. He let go of her arm. "We have to work together, right? We shouldn't be leaving things unresolved."

"Fine. Let's go somewhere then."

"I have my car. You name the place."

"I have somewhere in mind..."

 

* * *

 

"What _is_ this place?"

"Well, remember the day that Ethan first dragged us to the Cyberspace, said he wanted us to know what he was about?" Conner nodded. "Well, this is what I'm about." She gestured her hand at the grove of trees around them, blocking them from the rest of the park. It was by the lake, and a lot more peaceful than the woods. The fact that they'd never ran into a pack of drones in the park didn't hurt the serenity factor. "This is where I come --where I used to come, not so much anymore-- to relax and write songs and things."

"It's really cool here," Conner said. There were some large boulders in the clearing, situated in the shade and big enough for sitting on, as if nature had intended this place to be where two teenagers could sit and talk their muddled lives to death. Conner sat down, wishing that he'd had a chance to change out of his uniform. When Kira had first accosted him, his jersey had been plastered to his back with sweat.

"Yeah, I love it here," she said, perching on a different boulder. "So. Talk." They'd managed to keep silent, save for Kira's occasional driving directions, for the duration of the car ride. Which had helped calm Conner's nerves, and at the same time, bring his anxiety to a new level.

He attempted to cross his legs under him Indian-style, but the configuration of the rock wouldn't allow him the position comfortably. He shuffled and shifted for a bit before finally getting comfy. "Where should we start?"

"How about we start at the part where you like me," she suggested. There was a less-than-pleasant note in her voice. He cast her a warning look and reminded her that they'd agreed to keep things nice. "Okay, I'm sorry." She sighed, closing her eyes and exhaling slowly, as if composing herself. She opened them again. "Right. Let's go. You...like me."

"Yeah," he admitted, blushing, even though he'd stated it plainly the night before. It was weirdly hard to say it now. He figured it was because they were out in the open, in plain daylight, approaching this like rational people instead of in a heated screaming match.

With a flash, Conner remembered Kira kissing him --her actually kissing him, not his bizarre fluke at the dance-- and his face burned even brighter.

"It was an accident that I kissed you. I never meant to, honestly. I never even dreamed about it, I just was really ticked off at Wingate, and I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry about that. You have no idea _how_ sorry," he added under his breath.

"Can I ask why?" Kira said softly.

"Why I'm sorry?"

"No, why you like me."

That was a question he hadn't been expecting to be saddled with. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, you're, you're um..." he wracked his brain, trying to find a suitable word to describe her looks without offending her, as he was bound to do, before finally settling on the classic, "beautiful. And you're incredibly talented, I mean, your songs are amazing. And you don't care what anyone thinks about you, and you're a really good Ranger, and...well, a whole lot of things," he trailed off lamely, having realized that he was in the middle of a babbling tirade, and probably looked like a huge idiot.

"Oh. Wow. I...wow," she said.

"Yeah. So. Um. Listen, I know you like Trent and all that, and if you do, that's fine. I guess I just want to know where I stand, is all. I'm not asking you to like me back, I'm not asking for anything to change. It was an accident that this whole thing got started, and it was my fault, so don't feel like you owe me anything."

"I don't hate you," she said. "I don't know why you ever came to think that."

"You're mean to me and make fun of me all the time?" he said, and then grinned at how ridiculous it sounded, a six-one soccer-playing jock whining about getting teased by a petite female guitarist.

"You get the same flack from Ethan, and he doesn't hate you."

"Ethan doesn't know how to react with flesh-and-blood people. I think he still kinda thinks that if he touches us, we'll turn out to be pixilated or something."

Kira laughed, but soon got serious again. "Well, I don't hate you."

"Good to know."

"And the Trent thing... I mean, I don't even know if he likes me or not."

"Oh, he likes you, don't be ridiculous," Conner said. "The guy drew a picture of you as a superhero, for crying out loud."

"Well, at least you're upfront about this...I respect that, and I appreciate it."

"Thanks, I think. Or you're welcome. Or both. I'm not sure."

"You know, yesterday, when you got hurt, I was really worried."

"It was nothing serious." He felt just fine this morning.

"But at the time, we didn't know that. And I was scared for you, and it just got me thinking."

"About me."

"About you," Kira confirmed. "And I care about you."

This revelation, while it shouldn't have been surprising, all things considered, stunned Conner. "You mean, like, you--"

Kira held up her hand. "Please. Let's not make this any harder than it already is."

Conner nodded, stood up, and stretched. It was cool in the grove, and he dreaded the thought of going back into the blazing hot sun. If only he and Kira could stay in here forever...

Kira, too, stood up. "So."

"So," he echoed, wondering what he could say. He liked her; she liked him (maybe). "Where do we go from here?"

"We don't go anywhere," she said. "Nothing's ever going to come of this, Conner, you and I both know that."

"Right, of course," he said. He turned to go, to disappear through the bushes the way he'd come in, but he felt Kira's hand closing around his wrist. "Conner, wait," he heard, the words barely reaching his brain as he faced her and they met in a kiss. It surely had been her intent when pulling him back, but as to who actually started it, Conner couldn't say. Nor did he have any way of judging how long they stood there, their mouths melding, but they were both short of breath when it ended. He flashed his trademark grin at her. "Are you sure nothing's ever going to come of this?"

She smiled at that, and it was a beautiful smile. But she shook her head, and sadness was in her eyes. "It can't, Conner."

"Why can't it," he asked in a gentle, teasing voice, taking her hands in his and swinging them back and forth. Kira liked him, liked him a lot, if that kiss was any indication, and he couldn't imagine ever being happier.

Kira gently extracted herself from him. "Because of a lot of things. Because of Trent. Because of the team."

She was right. As much as he found himself wanting her to be wrong, he knew that she was absolutely right. "I do like you, Conner, a lot. But Trent's my friend, and he's your friend, too."

"So you're saying that you don't want anything to do with me until you know what your options are with him."

"I'm not saying that at all," she said, and he felt a twinge of remorse, because he hadn't really meant it. He was hurting, and just spouting the first hateful thing he could, but he had a feeling that she knew he wasn't serious. "Think about the team, Conner, about what we're doing. You said yourself there's nothing more important than it. What if this, what if you and I work out? Imagine what could go wrong if that Elsa whore found out about us --and you know she would-- and used it against the Rangers. Do you want your judgment to be impaired, to be blinded? Do you want the fate of the world resting in the hands of someone who's overcome by grief and can't think straight?"

"No," he said simply, because he didn't. He knew perfectly well how important his job was, and Kira was right, he didn't want to jeopardize anything this huge. Not even for the happiness he'd felt just moments earlier.

The weight of a superhero's life was heavy on his shoulders, but it was the right decision to be made, and he knew it. "It could be worse, Conner," she counseled him.

"You know, Trent...you can never be completely honest with him. You can never trust him like you can trust me."

"Yeah, I know. But maybe it's better that way, you know? It's simple stuff. Simple is good."

She raised up on the tips of her toes and kissed him gently. It seemed like goodbye. "I'm sorry about this, Conner, you have to understand that."

"I understand," he said, and a part of him honestly did understand. He hated it, but he understood completely.

"Okay then. Let's go. Smoothie? My treat..."

Conner nodded, and followed. In the end, he figured, when the chips were cashed, and Kira had to make a decision, she might well choose him. He had more notches in his belt than Trent, all things considered, and what had transpired this afternoon was just another secret between the two of them, locked away from the rest of the world.

This wasn't what Conner had been hoping for, not by a long shot. But it was a start.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [And After All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/48798) by [NeoVenus22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22)




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